Sleeve-type carriers are typically formed from a blank which is delivered to a packaging machine in the form of a collapsed sleeve. The sleeve is erected or opened in the machine and articles are loaded through one or both ends of the sleeve, after which the ends of the carrier are closed. Formation of the end panels of the carrier normally requires the top and bottom end panel flaps, and the dust or glue flaps to which the end panel flaps are glued, to be folded into place by separate folding steps.
When forming a fully enclosed carrier, such as one used to package long neck bottles, the upper portions of the end panels are often tapered so as to better follow the contour of the end bottles. To accomplish this the side panels are wider at the bottom than at the top, with the lower portion of the side panels being of constant width and the upper portion being tapered. The glue flaps hinged to the end edges of the side panels are basically comprised of a single flap containing a cutout extending in from the outer edge of the flap to a point near the juncture of the tapered upper end edge of the side panel and the straight lower end edge portion. This creates a narrow connecting strip between the upper and lower segments of the glue flap. The cutout plus a score line in the connecting strip allows the two segments of the glue flaps to shift as necessary when folded into place in order to accommodate the segments to the tapered shape of the end panels. Because folding of the upper segment of the glue flaps is resisted by the angled relationship of its fold line to the fold line of the lower segment, a "kicker" wheel is normally required to overcome this resistance. Use of kicker wheels, however, creates other problems. The impact of the kicker wheels makes it more difficult to maintain the carrier in square condition, and the time required for the kicker wheels to fold the glue flaps in place makes it necessary to reduce the machine speed.
It would be desirable to be able to form a tapered carrier without employing segmented glue flaps. By utilizing a unitary glue flap the need for a kicker wheel would be eliminated. It would also be desirable to have a carrier which is capable of more closely following the contours of bottles or other tapered articles in order to more tightly hold the articles within the package. Normally, the end panels of a sleeve-type carrier are not capable of closely following the contour of necked bottles in both the end panel area and in the corner areas between the end and side panels. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a sleeve-type carrier that can provide a tighter package and not slow the speed of the packaging machine.